In printer device technology, printer operation control commands are generally either hard coded into the printer, directly programmed into the printer, and/or down loaded (programmed) into the printer from a remotely connected computer system. In the case of hard coding, the functional variations are generally specific and limited. In the case of directly programming the printer, the operator (user) must know the printer specific control commands and/or must follow a menu format for programming the specific commands. In the case of down loading commands to the printer, the operator generally controls the printer through specific application programs, or must know specific details about how to program the printer through the down loadable commands.
Although improvements are constantly being made in applications programs to simplify the use of printers, none of the aforementioned methods provides a truly user simplistic method for controlling a printer. Namely, in each of the identified methods, the user must know something about the printer, its control commands, or the application program being used to control the printer. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a completely user friendly method for controlling a printer wherein the user needn't know any specific printer commands and needn't follow any manual entry menu system for controlling the printer.
Accordingly, objects of the present invention are to provide a new and improved system and method for providing a simple, user friendly means for controlling operations of a printer or other image transfer device.